Panama remains ID'd as missing woman

This undated photo released by Michelle Faust, sister of Yvonne Lee Baldelli, shows Yvonne Lee Baldelli in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Panamanian and U.S. authorities are working to find the missing U.S. tourist, originally from California, who arrived to Panama in Sept. 2011 with her boyfriend Brian Brimager, according to police. (AP Photo/Michelle Faust)
— AP

This undated photo released by Michelle Faust, sister of Yvonne Lee Baldelli, shows Yvonne Lee Baldelli in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Panamanian and U.S. authorities are working to find the missing U.S. tourist, originally from California, who arrived to Panama in Sept. 2011 with her boyfriend Brian Brimager, according to police. (AP Photo/Michelle Faust)
/ AP

Human remains found on a small Panamanian island last week have been positively identified as those of missing Orange County woman Yvonne Baldelli, the FBI said Wednesday.

The identification paves the way for possible murder charges against her ex-boyfriend from Vista who is jailed on other charges related to her death.

The bones and skull, zipped in a green military-style bag, were found by a local farmworker clearing brush in a swampy area on Isla Carenero on Aug. 20, authorities said.

Forensic specialists at a Panama laboratory used DNA analysis to confirm the identity, said FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth in San Diego. Baldelli’s sister said her father and older sister left their own DNA samples with authorities during a trip to Panama, to be used in case a body was found.

The Caribbean island is where Baldelli was last seen in November 2011 with her then-boyfriend, Brian Brimager.

An indictment in San Diego federal court says Brimager killed Baldelli on the island, then staged a cover-up to trick family and friends into believing she was still alive.

He is accused of sending fake emails from her account that said Baldelli was with another man in Costa Rica.

Weeks after his return to San Diego County, he married the mother of his young daughter.

He has been charged with obstruction of justice and making a false statement to a federal agent in connection with Baldelli’s death.

Panamanian authorities are still investigating the death but have not brought charges against Brimager.

“It’s heartbreaking but we know there’s enough circumstantial evidence to bring him to justice,” Baldelli’s father, James Faust Sr., said from his Rochester, N.Y., home.

The family is working with U.S. and Panamanian officials to determine when her remains can be brought back home. She will likely be interred in Southern California, her father said.

“To be able to bring her remains home in a dignified manner brings comfort to all of us in the family,” Faust said.